Character Generation: Aptitudes
Character statistics come in several varieties, but the root of the overwhelming majority of them lies in the Aptitudes. Aptitudes do what they say on the tin - they are the broadest mathmatical abstraction of the character, from which many other stats are derived. They are particularly helpful in the early game, where many of the player's skills and other stats will be directly derived from them.
Most RPGs need some approximation of this type. It's a way to represent the character in as few points of data as necessary to adjudicate success or failure in the game. The decision to set aptitudes early was taken as an overall example - characters can, by and large, become good at everything (more or less) by hard work, regardless of their initial aptitudes.
Players of D20-based games will find this list familiar, but it is implied in new and unusual ways.
| Aptitude | Abbrev. | Description | In-Game Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | STR | The physical strength of the character, in terms of lifting power, impact generation, and so on. | Derives several skills (including most/all of the melee weapon skills). Modifies melee damage. Can be directly checked for certain puzzles. Used to force doors. |
| Dexterity | DEX | The player's speed and dexterity, both overall and in terms of the use of their hands. | Derives several skills (including ranged weapon skills), determines the dodge%, and factors into critical%. Used in certain puzzles. |
| Constitution | CON | The player's physical hardiness and overall resistance to fatigue, injury, poison, and disease. | Derives HP, used in calculating some attribute effects. |
| Intelligence | INT | The player's mental acumen, including the sum total of their acquired knowledge | Derives skills, determines Skill Points on character creation, used in some Puzzle mechanics. |
| Wisdom | WIS | The player's mental agility, alertness, and overall 'zen' | Base stat of a few skills, plus intended uses in the Magic Module. Factors into the luck stat, therefore affecting crit%. |
| Charisma | CHA | The player's overall charm, including physical and mental attributes. | Derives the luck stat together with wisdom, thereby affecting crit% |
Upon character creation, characters are considered to have a base value (default is 8) in every attribute, though depending on the game settings, different races may have different initial adjustments. The sum of base value + racial modifier is known as the aptitude's floor value - the absolute lowest it can be set.
A round of point-buy is then begun - the game operator sets the base value, initial point pool, and the cost-per-level for each - see the relevant documentation, if this feature is implemented.
At the conclusion of point-buy, the player submits the keyword commit, and the game then calculates the relevant derivative values and proceeds to Skill Point Buy
Certain items may raise or lower attributes. This does not necessarily affect all derived values (like weapon skills), but does affect check results and the immediately-derived stats: maxHP, dodge%, crit%, Luck, and damage bonus rolls.
As of the time of writing, there is no proposal to permanently raise aptitudes - raising the relevant skill directly is preferred.